Ready for the Next Visit

I removed the camera I had in the top of the bird table as it was too close to the birds to give crisp pictures. It now has pride of place in the Hedgehog House where, hopefully, we will see a Hedgehog feeding.

The camera in the Hedgehog House. Even though it is wireless it still has a 12V power feed.



The view taken in by the camera:



Now wating for the next night time visitor. No visitors recorded last night.

Bird Table Cam - First Results

When checking to see what has been recorded the phone app looks like this:



The orange bars show when movement was detected and recordings made. Not all clips show birds actually on the bird table but here are the best so far:



Dunnock, Robin, Starlings and Blue Tit. As I thought, the seed is well in focus but the birds are just a bit too close so end up in soft focus but still recognisable.

Bird Table Cam

I had been puzzling how to add a camera to the bird table without having to run a cable back to this room. In the end I decided to use a spare Tapo TC60 indoor wifi camera. This is the same camera I used to take the video clips inside the Hedgehog House. It only needs a 12V feed to power it. Fortunately I already had a 12V power cable nearby which used to power a camera in the Hedgehog House years ago.



Here it is once I had mounted it inside the bird table. It should keep dry under the roof.



A quick still capture after I had it all up and running.



The camera has a memory card which records any movement within its view. I can monitor the video feed using an app on my iPhone or ask Alexa to show it. The video clips can be downloaded to the phone and then transferred to the laptop. Time will tell whether the video will be in focus enough as the camera isn't designed for taking such close views of objects.

Kermit's Cousin and a new Bird Table Camera

Having a last look round the back garden last night I spotted a common frog just waiting to have its portrait taken:






Yesterday the new camera arrived for the Bird Table. It is definitely an improvement in quality. The only problem is it is not quite as wide angle as the old one. Looks as though the Round Tuit now has a new entry - build a taller Bird Table to get the camera a bit further away from the birds and angle it to give a part side view.

The video is in two parts
1st  Old Camera - A juvenile Robin stood on the seeds but hoping to be fed.
2nd  New Camera - visiting male Chaffinch:



The camera is not waterproof so I hope the table roof is as it is purposefully precipitating at the moment.

Great Tit Nest Box:  There has been no adult roosting with the babies for three nights. I'm not sure what is going on.  We have lost two of the babies. Maybe a shortfall of food or too much competition from the strongest or possibly got too cold over night. Only six active beaks now when an adult arrives with food. So far the survivors are looking healthy. Not all the hatchlings survived last year.